


Danaganronpa / Love Live! AU Chapter 8

by STARRY_RlN



Series: The Killing Idol Festival [8]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 08:59:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15239931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARRY_RlN/pseuds/STARRY_RlN
Summary: The final chapter of my Love Live Killing Game AU! as usual please read the other chapters first if you haven't already!





	Danaganronpa / Love Live! AU Chapter 8

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to the chapter where Danganronpa actually matters! warning for spoilers of DR:THH, SDR2, and DR3 (the anime)
> 
> nerd stats: 58757 characters, 48 pages, and you see the word count :)

**_Chapter 8_ **

**_The Saviours of Hope_ **

 

It was silent as the Commons Area returned to the hotel.

Nobody spoke.

I can’t blame them.

Monokuma said I was the killer.

He says I killed Ruby’s sister.

He says I killed Dia.

He says it's me.

He even provided video evidence.

But I know I didn’t kill her! I never left my room!

All I need to do is convince everyone and prove definitively that I wasn’t the one to kill Dia!

“Well, we only have 8 hours, we need to get started.”

“You’re right Mari, but-”

“Shut up Chika, you better have a damn good plan on how you’re getting out of this, because as it stands there’s nobody it could be but you, we have the video after all.”

“I-I know, but it wasn’t me! I didn’t kill her! If I did why would I have insisted so strongly to have a retrial! Why would I have agreed that I would die if I couldn’t prove it wasn’t me!”

“Damn it Chika, you think I didn’t realize that! I want to trust you! You seem so innocent right now that it’s disgusting! But as long as that video exists your guilt may as well be taped to your face… Listen, we can’t trust you to investigate alone because we need a second person to be able to confirm anything said either by you to make yourself look innocent, or by Monokuma to make you look guilty, but we can’t have any of the three of us look around alone either.”

“Why can’t we?”  
“Hanayo, that’s because there’s one of us who would want Chika to be found guilty.”

“W-What? One of you wants me found guilty?”

“Of course, the Mastermind.”

“O-Oh, so we’re assuming they’re one of us…”

“Of course, how else would they be in control still. If the Mastermind died then Monokuma wouldn’t have anyone controlling him, and it was pretty clear he was reacting against any kind of script at the end of the trial.”

“I guess you’re right Mari, so what, we’ll do two pairs?”

“Exactly Chika, we can change our groups partway through, to start let’s do me with you, and Hanayo and Ruby. Before we split off though, let’s give the hotel a once over to see what exactly ‘all’ is.”

With that, Mari opened the door to the West Hall and we immediately saw something new. Well, not quite.

We saw 19 doors. Including the one that was just opened that made 20. The rooms that every one of the girls who was here at the start were here. Mari went to try to open Eli’s door, one of the earliest ones to be sealed. It opened.

“Well, it seems they open.”

Mari went to her own room and opened it as well.

“Alright, and they’re clean. I had a lot more stuff before, so I guess the hotel was reset to how it was when we first woke up.”

“Huh, ok then, why don’t we start here then? We can check all the rooms before moving on.”

“I was thinking the same thing Chika. Ruby, Hanayo, you check the Aqours side rooms. I’ll check the μ’s side rooms with Chika, I saw something in Eli’s room that I want to be the one to see. That’s ok with you, right?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

Ruby nodded her head. She hasn’t looked at me since the trial ended. She’ll probably be the hardest one to convince of my innocence. It’s her sister that was killed after all.

“Alright, if you find anything don’t look at it right away, it’ll only waste time, we’ll group back up afterwards and look at everything then, that way we don’t need to tell each other what we found. And don’t spend too much time in each room, if there’s anything like what I saw in Eli’s it’ll be obvious.”

Hanayo and Ruby nodded and went into Dia’s room. Mari’s definitely taking charge right now. Despite her goofy nature, leadership really is one of her best skills.

“Oh, right, Mari, I need to get something from the Commons Area, You can check out Eli’s room while I get it.”

“Idiot, weren't you listening? If I were the mastermind then I could easily forge evidence against you. I’m coming to the Commons Area with you.”

“Oh, right, ok, sorry, that makes sense. It’ll only be a few moments, don’t worry.”

“Let’s hurry up then, we only have until morning.”

Listening to Mari I hurried and went into the Commons Area with her at my tail. I got down on the floor and reached under the couch that Maki’s notebook was stashed inside.

“What are you doing?”

“Hold on, I’ve almost got it.”

I finally managed to find the notebook and pulled it out. When I stood up Mari had a skeptical look on her face.

“And what is that exactly?”

“It’s a message Maki left for me, I never had a chance to finish reading it because when I was reading it you came into the Baths.”

“Oh, I remember that, you seemed suspicious but I let it pass, especially after Dia came out as the traitor. So what’s in it?”

“Er, well, Maki told me not to tell anyone, but I know it’ll be important, so I’ll read it during the trial, you can put your signature on the front if you want to prove that I didn’t change the book for another one.”

“Alright, there should be a marker or something I can sign it with in Eli’s room so let’s get started.”

Mari led the way back to Eli’s room and I saw what she had seen that made her want to investigate the μ’s rooms.

On Eli’s bed was a book. I picked it up and read the title.

Despair for Dummies vol 2. The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.

The name sounded familiar. That’s right, Maki mentioned it in her notebook. She said that it was the long name for the event called The Tragedy.

As I thought about it, Mari came up to me and handed the notebook back to me.

“Alright, so this seems to be the second in a series, there probably won’t be anything else in here so let’s move on to Nozomi’s room.”

Mari took the book as she handed Maki’s notebook back to me. When we entered Nozomi’s room we saw something very similar.

Despair for Dummies vol 4. The Killing School Life.

“Alright, so I’m guessing there will be 6 volumes, and we’re going to find most of them.”

“Huh? Why do you say that?”

“Well, Eli had vol 2, Nozomi had vol 4, what do those numbers match?”

“It’s the order they killed someone.”

“Exactly, so we can skip the rooms of Honoka, Umi, Rin, and Hanayo.”

“Wait Mari, that’s not a good idea, we should also check theirs in case the victims have anything different, or the four of us that are still alive.”

“Alright, fine, but only if there’s anything obvious like this.”

Mari and I went through the rest of the rooms on the μ’s side together. Mari was right about only the rooms of the Blackened having anything in them. When we met back up with Hanayo and Ruby, Hanayo said that only Riko’s room had anything obvious.

“Alright, that’s what I expected, let’s put these books in order then.”

We got to work ordering the books we found, what we ended up with was this.

Despair for Dummies vol 1. The History of Hope’s Peak High School.

Despair for Dummies vol 2. The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.

Despair for Dummies vol 3. The First Killing Game and The Ultimate Despair.

Despair for Dummies vol 4. The Killing School Life.

Despair for Dummies vol 5. The Neo World Program and Killing Simulation.

Despair for Dummies vol 6. The Final Killing Game

“Wait, why are there only 6?”

“What do you mean Hanayo? You checked Chika’s room, so if there was something for her then you would have found it.”

“That’s not what I meant Mari, wasn’t Umi a blackened too? She was both blackened and a victim because she took her own life.”

“I guess you’re right, I guess it’s not the blackened who had them then, but the residents that were executed.”

“I guess that makes sense. So, should we read them?”

“No Hanayo, there won’t be enough time, we should have one person read to summarize for everyone else while we continue investigating.”

“Alright, who should read them then Mari?”

“You’ve taken up reading, so you do it Hanayo. I say this is where we swap, Hanayo and I will stay here, I want to check what’s in each of the closets. Chika, Ruby, I want you to check the scenes of each killing. There may be something in each of them. I saw this when we went into the Commons Area while Chika was getting Maki’s notebook, so I feel like it’s a reasonable hunch.”

Mari produced a sheet of paper from her pocket. I looked at it and it read “Mastermind Clue #6 The Mastermind is alive.”

“H-Huh? A clue for the Mastermind?”

Suddenly Monokuma appeared in the hall between all of us.

“Well? How’s your investigation going? I see you’ve found the first, well sixth, clue towards the Mastermind’s identity!”

“Monokuma is this true? Is the Mastermind really still alive?!”  
“Slow down Takami, let me explain the hints. There are six of them just like the number of books there were. And of these six, there are three lies, and three truths.”

“Oh, so it’s just as likely that the Mastermind is dead?”

“Exactly! You have no way of knowing if this paper tells the truth or lies! Well, with that, I will be leaving you to continue investigating. I’ll go have fun planning how to kill you all!”

Monokuma disappeared and the four of us were alone in the hall once again.

“Well, anyways, let’s get moving, you two go check the Exercise Room, Medicine Room, Stage, Courtyard, and Pool since that’s where the other 5 victims died. And if there are only 6 total then I guess the previous trial doesn’t count which is why nothing was found in Dia’s room.”

“Alright, come on Ruby.”

“...”

The two of us went off together towards the Exercise Room in silence. As we passed the Baths, Ruby stopped.

“Ruby? Are you ok?”

“...Chika.”

“What? Do you need something?”

“... Did you kill my sister..?”

“What? Of course not! If I did then why would I have offered to give my life in exchange for a chance to prove myself innocent?”

“I… I want to believe you’re innocent… But if not you then who would have killed Sis? There’s the video after all!”

“I know, I don’t have an answer for that, but that’s why we’re investigating! We’ll find information to prove me innocent!”

“I… don’t know what to think… The only thing I’ve wanted to think about before was Sis… But I don’t have her anymore… I don’t know what to do… I’ve always been able to do stuff without her, but I always knew that at the end of the day she was still there… I don’t have that anymore… She’ll never be there for me now… I… I…”

Ruby broke down in tears. She began to fall to the ground and I caught her before she could hit it.

“It’ll be ok Ruby, Dia’s still there. Even if she’s not here, she’ll be watching over, keeping you safe. She cares so much about you that I’m sure she’ll keep protecting you after death. She wouldn’t let anything happen to you. She’ll be your guardian angel from now on.”

Ruby didn’t respond but eventually her crying slowed down.

“C-Come on Chika… Let’s go check the five rooms we were told to check…”

“R-Right, we’re almost to the first.”

Ruby pulled herself up and pushed off of me. She took the lead towards the Exercise Room and walked to the opposite corner from the entrance.

“Here it is, on the bench. Mastermind Clue #4: The Mastermind was executed.”

“Well, that’s a contradiction to the other one we have, so at least one is a lie, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so, you can hold on to it Chika.”

Ruby handed me the paper and continued on towards the next room, the Medicine Room. As we went through the rooms we found four more papers.

On the floor in the middle of the Medicine Room was Mastermind Clue #3: The Mastermind is a member of Aqours.

In the center of the Stage was Mastermind Clue #2: The Mastermind is the AB Blood type.

When we came to the courtyard we saw one thing that had changed. It was no longer destroyed. The Hotel truly had returned to how it was before we had woken up.

In the bed of sunflowers was another piece of paper, Mastermind Clue #1: The Mastermind does not want this killing game to be occuring.

And on the edge of the pool was the last one, Mastermind Clue #5: The Mastermind is taller than 160cm.

“Some of these clues seem so arbitrary, like blood type?? Height? These are so vague! And the mastermind not wanting the Killing game to be happening? That’s stupid, why would they be the Mastermind then?”

“I guess that one is a free lie, let’s go back to the others Chika, they should know what these are.”

“You’re right, let’s go Ruby.”

I led the way back to the west hall where I saw Hanayo and Mari come out of Honoka’s room. Hanayo had the 6th book in hand.

“Perfect timing, Hanayo just finished with the last book and I just finished taking inventory of the last of the closets, yours was certainly an easy one Chika.”

“Don’t rub it in that I didn’t have anything.”

“Alright, alright, so what were the clues for the Mastermind?”

“Alright, here they are.”

Mastermind Clue #1: The Mastermind does not want this killing game to be occuring.

Mastermind Clue #2: The Mastermind is the AB Blood type.

Mastermind Clue #3: The Mastermind is a member of Aqours.

Mastermind Clue #4: The Mastermind was executed.

Mastermind Clue #5: The Mastermind is taller than 160cm.

Mastermind Clue #6: The Mastermind is alive.

“So three of these are truthful and three are lies.”

“Yeah, that’s what Monokuma said Hanayo, we know one that’s true though.

“Which is that Mari?”

“You remember what Umi said, right Chika? Her dying words were that the mastermind is alive. She knew the mastermind’s identity so I feel that’s a reliable lead”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Now then, let’s split again, Ruby, you come with me, Hanayo go with Chika, you two do a thorough investigation of the Central Hall except Management, we’ll all go together after this. Ruby and I will do the same for the rest of the hotel.”

“Alright, let’s go Hanayo, we should go around in a circle, start in the Bathroom and end in the Garbage Room.”

“That sounds good.”

I led the way to the Bathroom and once we went inside…

I had no idea what to do.

“How do we thoroughly investigate a bathroom?”

“Well, we could start trying to press every tile, see if any secret doors open.”

“Oh! Good idea Hanayo! You start there and I’ll start here, we’ll meet in the middle!”

I went around the room pressing every tile, even the ones in the broom closet, until both Hanayo and myself ended on the same one. I took a deep breath, Hanayo nodded, and I pressed my hand into it.

It didn't budge.

“Well that was anticlimactic.”

“I guess we’re on to the Medicine Room then.”

“Yeah, I can’t think of anything else to do here Hanayo, let’s go.”

We went around the hall without finding anything, coming to the last room, the Garbage Room.

“We haven’t found anything, and this room is just a solid wall except for the incinerator.”

“Hanayo, you know what that has to mean right?”

“There wasn’t anything for us to find?”

“No, it means that there’s probably something inside the incinerator! Let’s go look!”

I ran towards the incinerator and looked inside the open lid.

“I knew it! There’s something shiny down there! But how are we supposed to get it?”

“Well, you could try to lower me down into it, I’ll grab it while you hold onto my leg.”

“Oh! Good Idea! Don’t worry, I won’t drop you!”

I grabbed Hanayo by the leg and she climbed up onto the incinerator. She dropped in and I held on, making sure not to let go.

“I can’t quite reach it! I need to get lower!”

I leaned over the edge of the incinerator, seeing her arm stretched out for the shiny thing.

“Come on! Just a little more!”

I leaned in a bit more, trying to lift one leg to enable myself to lean in more, and then, disaster struck.

The first tremor we had in a while went off, it wasn’t strong but it was enough to knock me off balance and I tumbled over the edge into the incinerator.

“Ow!”

“Ah! Sorry Hanayo! I didn’t mean to land on top of you!”

“It’s ok, it’s not your fault. It’s that stupid tremor! How are we going to get out of here?”

“Well, how about the door?”

“What are you talking about Chika?”

I pointed at the big, clean looking door right in front of me. It looked really conspicuous being such a clean silver surrounded by ash.

“Well, I guess there’s no other way, oh, here’s the shiny thing!”

Hanayo lifted what looked like a simple steel rod, but it looked like it could be pulled apart in half.

“There’s probably something inside it, but let’s wait to open it when we get back to Mari and Ruby.”

“Yeah, let’s focus on getting out of here for now.”

When I stood up I tried to wipe the ash off of me, though it didn’t work very well.

“Welp, that’s a skirt and a top ruined.”

“It’ll be ok Chika, let’s go, we don’t have much longer.”

“Right, we have to get back with the others so we can investigate inside Management.”  
I reached my hands out to open the door and turned the large rotating hatch like the steering wheel of a ship. Once it stopped turning I pulled and the door swung open. Hanayo was the first to walk in and the room was pitch black and absolutely freezing.

“How can a room this cold be next to an actual incinerator? I’m already shivering!”

“Let’s just feel around the left wall until we find the exit, that way if we have to turn back we can follow the same path.”

“Good idea Hanayo, you’re just full of those today!”

We made our way around the edge until Hanayo stopped and I bumped into her back.

“Oh, sorry Chika, but I found a light switch, I’m going to turn it on.”

“Ok, please do.”

Suddenly lights flashed on all around us, and I saw why the room was so cold.

The room we were in seemed to be some kind of morgue. There were freezers lining the walls. I read the labels on them all and my stomach wrenched.

From the far left to the right read Honoka Kousaka, Kanan Matsuura, Yoshiko Tsushima, Nico Yazawa, Nozomi Toujou, You Watanabe, Umi Sonoda, Maki Nishikino, Rin Hoshizora, Riko Sakurauchi, and lastly, Dia Kurosawa.

My eyes went wide and I heard Hanayo fall to the floor. What did we just find? Are these really the bodies of the girls that died before? Th-These are their corpses..?

“W-What in the, wh-why is this here? Why? I-I-”

I couldn’t hold myself together anymore, I threw up. I looked around a little more, and that was a mistake. I saw a bucket, it was covered and opaque, but the label on it was enough for me to know what was inside.

Kotori Minami, Eli Ayase, and Hanamaru Kunikida.

Their remains were all piled into the same bucket.

It was too much.

We need to get out.

“H-Hanayo, come on, we have to find the door.”

“Y-Yeah, after this is done… we have to come back… We can give them all a proper burial… it’s not too late…”

“Of course, we will, come on.”

I went up to a wooden door on the opposite end of the room and opened it. Inside was something that looked like a catwalk. Looking down was pitch darkness, and looking up was so far that I couldn’t see the ceiling.

“What is going on, we have to get back to the hotel, but where do we go? There are so many levels, which do we go on?”

Luckily, or unluckily, I didn’t have to choose, as I felt a hand cover my mouth and I passed out immediately.

 

I woke up in my own room, on my own bed. My head was foggy and I didn’t know which way was up for a few seconds. Once I regained my senses I looked down and saw I was still covered in ash.

“What happened..?”

I got out of my bed and saw Hanayo with Mari and Ruby in the hall.

“Chika, did the same thing happen to you?”  
“What do you mean?”

“As soon as we went out to the catwalk, I felt a hand cover my mouth and blacked out.”

“Yeah! That happened to me too! What was that?”  
“Are you both ok? You seem really off…”

“Y-Yeah, I think so Ruby, we finished our investigation I think, we found a door inside the incinerator.”

“Wait what? When I said thorough I didn’t mean to jump into the incinerator!”

“No, no, that’s not what happened Mari! I saw something shiny in the incinerator so I lowered Hanayo in to grab it and when the tremor happened I fell in.

“Alright, well what was in the door?”

“Oh, well we found… um…”

“Do you not remember, Chika?”

“N-No, I do, Mari, it’s just…”

“It was awful...I don’t even want to think about it, l-let’s talk about the shiny thing instead, that hopefully won’t be as bad.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that, so what is it? What did you nearly get burned to death in the incinerator for?”

“H-hey, you don’t need to be so negative about it Mari, but I’m curious too, what is it?”

“Well, it’s a stick.”

“Really Chika? You both nearly died and saw something so disturbing you don’t want to say what it was for a stick?”

“N-No, that’s not the whole thing, it’s more like a rod that can come apart, we think something is inside it but didn’t want to open it without both of you here.”

“Ok, thank you Hanayo for explaining in a way that doesn’t make me want to slap you.”

“Sh-Shouldn’t we open it? We’re already running low on time and we still need to go look in Management.”

“Yeah, you’re right Ruby, so hurry up and open it Chika.”

“Alright, here I go!”

It took a lot of strength but eventually I was able to pull the two halves of the rod apart. Inside one of the halves was what seemed like a rolled up scroll.

“Maybe it’s another hint or something like what we’ve gotten before?”

“Maybe Ruby, well, I’ll unroll it then.”

I took the scroll out of the rod and unfurled it. On the scroll was a picture of Monokuma in a fishers outfit and a long red fish.

“Well what is it Chika? Read it to us.”

“Er, well, there aren’t any words Mari, just a picture.”

“Well what is it? Let us see.”

I turned the picture to them and Mari immediately pressed her hand to her forehead.

“Alright, let’s go, we can’t keep wasting time, there isn’t much left.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Better yet what does the picture mean?”

“It’s a red herring Chika, it’s something that seems important but is totally useless in the end.”

“Oh, I see, thanks for the explanation Hanayo. You’re right Mari, we need to hurry.”

“Hold on, I have one more question.”

“Huh? What is it Ruby?”

“If you were both brought from under the incinerator, then how did you get back to your rooms without us noticing? We came down here because we heard a loud bang and that’s when Hanayo came out of her room, but we hadn’t left the North Hall yet, we should have seen you if you were dragged or carried back to your rooms…”

“Wait, you hadn’t left the hall yet? That makes me feel like we were going too fast…”

“That’s beside the point Chika, I agree with Ruby, that is strange, but we should get moving, we can think of that during the trial. For now let’s get to the Central Hall. We need to go inside Management.”

Mari turned on her heel and took off at a fairly quick pace. I had to put an extra dash in my stride to keep up until we made it to the door to management.

“Another question to keep in mind, how was everything from the Medicine Room cleaned so quickly? It’s probably something similar to how the bodies are cleaned so well but it still confuses me.”

We could all tell it was a rhetorical statement, and Mari turned back towards the three of us in the hall.

“Are you all ready to go in?”

None of us moved as she asked that, the nerves were getting to us, and I could tell that Mari was just as nervous. But we couldn’t back down. Not now. Not after all we’ve done.

“I’ll take the silence as a yes. Let’s go then.”

And with that, Mari pushed the door open. Nothing stopped us from going in. The door simply opened like any other door.

Inside the room was dark, the only light coming from the series of screens at the back of the room. There was an oppressive atmosphere that felt like it was screaming ‘leave! leave!’ over and over. I manage to pull my attention from the light of the screens to the rest of the room and saw something that didn’t quite line up with what Maki had said there was in her notebook. The room was exceptionally clean, almost suspiciously so. There wasn’t a loose paper in sight. However there was one thing that was the same, there was a door that, according to the map, should not be there.

“Hey, everyone, come look at this.”

I was snapped out of my daze to see Hanayo had already approached the screens at the other side of the room. Upon getting closer I saw what she had wanted us to see almost immediately. On the screens were videos of the hotel, 30 screens in different places.

“So this is how the mastermind watches us?”

“Yeah, it seems that way Chika. So where does this get us Hanayo?”

“Well, there’s a map of the hotel here, I’m guessing we can show certain areas, right?”

“Let’s test that.”

Mari moved her hand down and pressed her finger on the hallway outside of Management. Suddenly all the screens changed to show that area.

“Hey, Ruby, go poke your head outside, I want to see if this feed is live.”

“Alright! I’ll be right back.”

“That seems pointless, why wouldn’t it be live?”

“I just wanted her to feel like she was being more useful, I don’t want her spirits to be low for the trial, that makes sense, right Hanayo?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

As Ruby opened the door, none of the screens seemed to change.

“Well then, that was not what I expect-”

“Wait, Mari, Hanayo, look, the one next to the top right screen!”

I pointed at the screen and there it was, Ruby’s head sticking out of the door.

“Do you see me? Can I come back now?”

“Yeah, you can come back Ruby. This is weird…”

“What’s weird?”

“When you stuck your head out, it only showed on one of the screens, not all 30.”

“Huh… Why didn’t the others change? Are they broken?”

“I’m not sure… Hey, look, there’s a rewind button here, let’s see what happens if we rewind the footage.”

Mari reached over Hanayo and pressed the button. The footage played in reverse and we saw Ruby’s head again on the same monitor, followed by all four of us backing out from when we came in. Then there was myself and Hanayo from when we investigated the Central Hall.

“Come on, can’t this go faster?”

Mari pressed the rewind button a few more times making it reverse faster and faster each time.

“H-Hey! Mari! Hold on!”

Hanayo pressed the pause button and we saw something different, on the screen in the 2nd column, in the middle row, there was Dia.

“Th-that’s-”

“Wait, hold on, let’s bring it out to show the whole hotel.”

Mari tapped the corner of the map where it said “all” and a prompt came up on the middle of the map saying “Which One?”

There were then 30 buttons in the same 5 rows and 6 columns as the screens. Mari tapped the one that showed Dia on the screen and we saw everywhere else in the hotel.

“Look! Next to the top left monitor, that’s the West Hall!”

“Which doors aren’t there? If we can see that then we’ll know which trial this was after!”

Seeing Hanayo and Mari going back and forth made it hard to step in, so I joined Ruby in watching everything unfold without contributing much myself.

“There’s You’s door, but Hanamaru’s is missing, meaning this was after that trial. According to Dia this would have been the last time she came here.”

“Yeah, and it showed on a different screen than when we saw Ruby stick her head out, why did it show on a different screen?”

“I’m not sure Hanayo… Let’s rewind more, see what we see.”

Mari switched it back to the view where all the screens showed what was outside Management and began to rewind again. We saw Dia on the 3rd column on the bottom, and then saw Maki on the fifth column one up from the bottom.

“We won’t figure anything out from this, we have the information we need, which is that it moves around where we see them. That’s all we can get from this, let’s keep looking around, ok hanayo?”  
“Yeah, you’re right, we should try to see what else there is in here.”

Taking that as my cue I started to look around the room. There were a bunch of file cabinets and drawers around the room, and my attention fell on one file cabinet that was opened slightly. I walked over to it and looked inside, and what I saw made my breath catch in my throat.

“Huh? Did you find something Chika?”

“R-Ruby, I… I’m not… I…”

“Chika! Words! Speak! What did you find?”  
“Mari, it’s-”

Before I could say anything, Ruby screamed, pushed the drawer in, and fell backwards. Mari came over not waiting for an answer and opened the drawer back up, pulling out what was inside.

An orange wig, and a duplicate of the outfit I was wearing.

“This is-”

“I’m… I’m innocent, there’s your proof! I didn’t kill Dia! It was the mastermind! They disguised themself as me and killed Dia! They ordered Dia to let them kill her, if she refused then Ruby would have died instead so of course she agreed!”

“That means… The video isn’t valid evidence that Monokuma can use against you!”

“You’re right Hanayo… We can go home… With this, we can go home…”

“Well then, I guess if there’s nothing else that anyone found, there’s one more place for us to go.”

“That’s right Mari… That door is the last place for us to look.”

“Shall we then.”

With Mari’s words, Hanayo opened the door and walked through, then she gasped and stopped. As I moved closer I saw why.

“This is-”

“The scaffolds, it’s everything we saw when we came out of that place…”

“What are you two talking about? Is this where you were when you got-”

Mari’s words were cut short. I tried to turn and all I saw was Ruby on the floor before I blacked out for the second time.

 

I woke up once again in my bed. My head hurt and I hardly wanted to get up. I had to though, we would be able to go home, we found the evidence that proved that, and I could feel that I was still holding that evidence in my hand. I rolled myself out of bed and moved out to the hall. Outside I saw Hanayo and Ruby coming out of their rooms, as well as Mari further down the hall.

“Well… I guess they really don’t want us in the area, huh Chika?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right Hanayo… But it doesn’t matter! We found the evidence that will let us leave! We can go home!”

“Speaking of going home, did you guys see the timer in your rooms?”

“Huh? What do you mean Mari?”

“It said there were only 30-”

Mari was cut off by a sound emanating through the hotel.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Dong.

“The final trial of the innocence of Takami Chika will soon begin! Everyone please report to the Commons Area.”

“-seconds left.”

“Well, I guess it’s zero now.”

“Shut up Chika.”

“Hey, I’m trying to lighten the mood! We’re going home soon! We shouldn’t be down at all!”

“H-Hey, since the trial is starting, here are the summaries I wrote about the six books we found, there’s a copy for everyone. I’m not sure how much they’ll matter but I may as well give them to you.”

Hanayo handed myself, Ruby, and Mari six papers each. We filled into the Commons Area and it felt so empty, but this was it. The four of us would be the ones to survive. The four of us would live on together. The four of us.

 

The four of us took our spots at the stands. It’s time to end this. It’s time to go home. It’s time to defeat Monokuma once and for all. The fourteen who died, are you watching? Are you happy that we can end this? Are you happy that this is almost over?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Summary #1: The History of Hope’s Peak High School.

Hope’s Peak High School was a Japanese High School that scouted students possessing skill in a particular field. These students were the best in their field and held skill so exceptional that just by being scouted for this school they found backing from sponsors and scholarships for colleges. This school cultivated these students and ensured their success no matter what may happen.

 

Summary #2: The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.

While Hope’s Peak High School scouted their talented students, they also allowed students to pay an extreme fee to enter the “Reserve Course.” This course was essentially an extremely expensive normal school that gave no special attention or privilege. An extreme social unrest caused these students to rebel against the school, destroying it and bringing forth a wave of destruction that echoed across Japan. This was essentially the end of the world.

 

Summary #3: The First Killing Game and The Ultimate Despair.

The First Killing Game was the event that cause the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. The Student Council of Hope’s Peak High School was forced to kill each other until only one student remained. That student was the Student Council President Soshun Murasame. This killing game was hosted by a girl who was known as the Ultimate Despair, Junko Enoshima. The Ultimate Despair may also refer to those that followed Junko Enoshima in order to bring the world’s ruin.

 

Summary #4: The Killing School Life.

In order to protect themselves from the end of the world caused by Junko Enoshima, the 78th Class of Hope’s Peak High School locked themselves into the school. This plan however failed as Junko Enoshima was a part of that class and forced the other 15 students into a killing game, the first killing game to include trials to find the killers and execute them.

 

Summary #5: The Neo World Program and Killing Simulation.

The Neo World Program was a simulation created by the Ultimate Programmer, Ultimate Neurologist, and Ultimate Therapist. It was meant to revert the members of the Ultimate Despair known as the Remnants of Despair back into their non-despair selves. This simulation was hijacked and the 15 students as well as an AI known as Chiaki Nanami were forced into the Killing Simulation, believing they were on a deserted island. The simulation ended with the defeat of an AI recreation of Junko Enoshima and the 15 students were brought back to life.

 

Summary #6: The Final Killing Game.

The members of the Future Foundation, an organisation meant to defeat the Ultimate Despair, were forced into a killing game more similar to the First Killing Game in which there were no trials. This Killing Game ended with the destruction of the Future Foundation.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

**_TRIAL START_ **

 

Monokuma: So then Takami, have you proven that you weren’t the one to kill Kurosawa the elder?

Chika: Of course! I’ve found something that thoroughly discredits the video that you showed us!

Monokuma: Well then, why don’t you present that evidence?

Chika: Here it is! A wig that looks too similar to my own hair to be coincidental and a copy of the outfit I’ve been wearing since before Dia died! They were found in Management, so that means the one that killed Dia was the mastermind behind this killing game!

Mari: So that’s that Monokuma! We’ve proven Chika’s innocence, so now you have to let the four of us go home!

Monokuma: Alright, you’re right.

Hanayo: Huh? That easy?!

Monokuma: I’m the host of the killing festival, it would be bad for me to lie, right?

Ruby: But you lied about Chika killing Sis!

Monokuma: Eh, that’s in the past. Anyways, so what?

Chika: Huh?

Monokuma: The mastermind killed her, so now what?

Chika: Now you have to let us go! You said that if I proved that you lied about me being blackened then all four of us could leave!

Monokuma: But why would I do that?

Chika: What do you-

Monokuma: It’s not like you can do anything, I’m the god of this hotel after all! Nobody can stop dis-bear! Upupupu!

Monokuma’s words were emphasized by a tremor that sent all of us except Mari to the floor.

Monokuma: How’s this, let’s make it more fun, tell me who the mastermind is.

Chika: How should I know?

Monokuma: It’s a trial! Talk about it! Figure it out! I gave you so many hints!

Chika: And half of those hints are lies! How do you expect us to know which are right and wrong!

Monokuma: Less talking to me, more talking to the other residents! Ohara looks like she has something to say.

Chika: What is it Mari?

Mari: Well, it’s not much but I guess any little bit helps, there are two people we can rule out as the mastermind with these hints.

Hanayo: Really? Who?

Ruby: It’s the two of you, Chika and I are still iffy…

Mari: So you realized too Ruby?

Ruby: Y-Yeah… if there are 3 true statements and 3 false statements then it can’t be either of you. We can’t understand the mastermind not wanting the killing game one so we can’t use that, but Mari has 4 others that are true and Hanayo, you have 4 that are false.

Mari: For mine, I’m definitely alive, I’m a member of Aqours, my blood type is AB, and I’m over 160cm. So I can’t be the mastermind.

Hanayo: I see, and for me I’m under 160cm, my blood type isn’t AB, I’m not a member of Aqours, and I haven’t been executed.

Mari: Exactly, the reason we can’t guarantee Ruby or Chika is because they both have three false and two true for the 5 that are certainties. They’re both alive and they’re both members of Aqours. But neither are blood type AB, neither are over 160cm, and neither were executed. So if they didn’t want the killing game to be happening, then they could possibly be the mastermind.

Chika: I see… But I was framed as blackened and Ruby was the Mastermind’s bargaining chip, so shouldn’t that prove us innocent as well?

Mari: Yes, reasonably, but I read Hanayo’s summaries, logic doesn’t seem very important her. The end of the world was caused by a single girl after all.

Chika: Oh! That’s right! That reminds me!

Hanayo: What is it? The way you’re talking makes it seem important!

Chika: According to Maki’s notebook that she left, since the final motive was the time limit, she knew who the mastermind was!

Mari: Did she say who? That would be pretty helpful to know!

Chika: It’s the same one that caused all the others, Junko Enoshima.

Mari: Yeah, now that you say it it seems obvious, almost too obvious.

Hanayo: Wait, I didn’t put them in the summaries, but the books all had information on the participants of the killing games, hold on, let me find Junko Enoshima’s… Here it is!

Mari: What are her height and blood type? Does it say?

Hanayo: She’s… Type AB and 169cm… So those two would be true.

Mari: And if she were the mastermind, then she would have to still be alive! That’s 3 true hints!

 

Suddenly, as Mari finished talking, everything felt like it stopped. And the greatest vibration we had felt up to that point shook the very bones in my body. All of us fell to the ground. It felt like the world was breaking.

And then it did.

Rock and debris began to rain from the ceiling as a hole appeared. And from that hole fell 3 figures I couldn’t identify at first. As they fell, the vibrations ceased and I was able to stand despite how much I wanted to throw up from all that.

 

At the edge of the room were the three figure I had briefly seen. They were behind Hanayo and their presence made me move away instinctively. Hanayo did the same as I took the stand that had belonged to Yoshiko and Hanayo took the one that used to hold Maru.

The four of use were stood side by side as the three took places at the stands that previously held Hanayo, Maki, and Nico.

 

In Hanayo’s stand was a man who seemed to be about 20. He had brown hair that spiked up at the top and was wearing a black suit. His face was serious yet caring, and by the way he looked at him, Monokuma seemed to have a distaste for him.

Next to that man stood a girl with silverish purple hair that was tied back. She wore a suit similar to the other man’s and looked slightly older, though it was hard to tell. Her expression made it feel like she knew everything about me from just a glance and made me feel somewhat unnerved.

The last figure was a tall man with white hair and an equally white suit. His left eye was held shut and he seemed to be the most apathetic while also the most serious. It was easy to tell he was the leader. He also appeared several years older than the other two.

 

Mari: Who are you people? Why are you here? Are you the reason the hotel has been shaking so much?

Brown haired man: Yes, sorry, that was us. We were doing our best to reach you as quickly as possible. My name is Makoto Naegi. The other two are Kyoko Kirigiri and Kyosuke Munakata. The three of us are here to save you on behalf of the Future Foundation!

Chika: The Future Foundation? That’s the group that Maki said trapped us in here!

Makoto: That’s right, but please, allow us to explain before you jump to any conclusions!

Mari: If you’re the ones that trapped us here, does that mean you’re working with the Ultimate Despair? Are you the ones that made all this killing happen?!

Kyosuke: Quite the opposite. We’re the ones that defeated the Ultimate Despair. Now then, all that should be left is to destroy this Monokuma unit and we should be able to leave.

As the man said that, I felt something press into the back of my head.

Monokuma: What now?

Kyosuke: I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Well, I take it any sudden movements will end with all their heads blown off?

Monokuma: You got it Sir Emo! So then, we were in the middle of a trial, three more additions shouldn’t be a problem. Let’s continue, shall we?

Mari: Well then, as we were saying, the mastermind, that should be Junko Enoshima, right?

Kyoko: That’s impossible.

Hanayo: Huh? Why-

Kyoko: Enoshima is dead.

Hanayo: …

Chika: …

Mari: …

Ruby: …

Kyoko: So then, what’s your next idea? This can’t be solved without communication. Unlike the others, we weren’t able to watch this killing game from the outside. So tell us what information you have.

Chika: H-Here, these are the books we found as well as the hints for who the mastermind is that we found. Three are true and three are lies.

Kyoko: Naegi, you read the books, Munakata and I will deal with the trial this time.

Makoto: Alright, good luck.

Mari: Alright, so I have a few questions because I am still completely lost. Why did you lock us up here? How is the Future Foundation still together if the books said that the final killing game ended in its destruction? How is Junko Enoshima dead?

Kyoko: To answer you in reverse order, Naegi, Myself, and four others caused her to execute herself at the end the Killing School Life. The Future Foundation is no longer together, it was disbanded as the Ultimate Despair was destroyed. And the final question will have a longer explanation.

Mari: Then explain and stop wasting time.

Kyoko: You were locked up so that you could be one of our final tools against despair. Your music would be able to inspire those who had not been taken by it yet. You were to be used in the name of hope. We attempted to give you good accommodations so that you wouldn’t grow to be upset at your situation. But what we didn’t expect was for our plan to be taken over.

Kyosuke: A Monokuma unit slipped into the hotel and we lost communication. You should have still been able to communicate outside and see what was happening. And then we were forced into the final killing game.

Chika: So Maki was right, we were meant to be tools for you.

Kyoko: Of course, but in the same vein we were protecting you.

Hanayo: Well so much for that! 14 of us have died!

Kyosuke: Weren’t you listening? That’s not our fault, one of the Monokuma units got through our security.

Chika: And how do you explain this. Maki said that since the final motive about the timer wasn’t changed that Junko Enoshima would have to be the mastermind who saw through her lie!

Kyoko: All the Monokumas have a portion of Enoshima’s intellect, the Monokuma unit would have seen through her lie whatever it may have been.

Ruby: Then-Then-

Kyosuke: No matter what you say it doesn’t change the fact that Enoshima has been dead for years. She could not have been the one to initiate this killing game. The one that did that will be shown in these papers that you have given us.

Monokuma: Hey, why don’t you all do something interesting, I’m getting bored.

Kyosuke: Naegi, what do you have to say about the books.

Makoto: Everything checks out except for the last one that says we all died. Five of us escaped that killing game. But other than that, everything seems to be correct. Though I did notice one thing.

Mari: And that is?

Makoto: There’s information in these that none of the girls here should have known, such as how everyone was killed in the killing game simulation. That was never made public, so I’m sure they weren’t written by any of the girls in this killing game.

Ruby: So that means the mastermind isn’t one of us?

Kyoko: No, not necessarily.

Ruby: H-Huh?

Kyoko: This hint in particular, it says the mastermind does not want this killing game to be happening. Not did not, does not. So I’m guessing that the mastermind in this case wishes they could have stopped it and Monokuma overpowered them. If that’s correct then Monokuma would have been the one to write it. Since the Monokuma’s share information wirelessly, that’s easily possible for him to know all of this.

Chika: But we have no way of knowing if that hint is true!

Kyoko: Of course, but it’s so different from the other hints that it would be more absurd for it not to be true.

Makoto: And if we want to follow that route, we should assume the absurd is true, so consider the possibility that the two hints that contradict each other, that the mastermind was executed and is alive are both true. What possibilities would that leave?

Chika: That’s impossible! We saw all 6 executions ourselves! We saw Kotori being devoured, we saw Eli be crushed, we saw Nico’s corpse, we saw Nozomi being impaled, we saw Maki being decapitated, and we saw Riko’s body shatter from impact…

Kyosuke: And you’re certain of all of those? There’s no possible room for any of those executed to have faked their death?

Monokuma: This is soooooo booooring, there aren’t any debates! No refutation! Where’s the spice! The excitement! What’s wrong with you people! That’s it, tell me your guess for the mastermind right now Takami, we need to add something more interesting!

 

If those three are the true statements…

It can’t be Riko because she’s in Aqours…

It can’t be Nozomi or Eli, they’re too tall…

It can’t be Maki because of her blood type…

That leaves two…

 

Monokuma: Come on Takami! You’ve got one guess!

 

One of those two had a far more obvious death. One of those two was the only one we didn’t see the moment of death…

 

Chika: The mastermind… Is it Nico?

Monokuma: Is that your guess? You think the mastermind that caused the death of all your friends is the gremlin Yazawa?

Chika: Y-Yes!

Monokuma: Well then! Why don’t we find out! Oh Mastermind! Why don’t you come out and join us in the trial!

 

Suddenly, a distorted voice was heard surrounding the room. I couldn’t tell who it was, but it sounded scared.

 

???: H-Huh? You want me to come out now? Are you sure Monokuma?

Monokuma: As sure as I’ll ever be! This already makes no sense, so let’s add to the pot of confusion!

???: A-All right, I’ll come out then. Please, don’t hate me…

 

With that, smoke filled the room. I saw a shadowed figure move towards and stand at my pedestal, directly across from Monokuma’s seat.

 

As the smoke subsided, the figure became clear.

 

My stomach wrenched.

 

My heart sank.

 

Everything inside me wanted to scream.

 

Standing there was someone who confirmed the predictions of Kyoko and Makoto.

 

Standing there was a girl who I couldn’t believe was alive.

 

Standing there was Kotori Minami.

 

Chika: You…

Kotori: I’m sorry… I don’t want this any more than you do… I wanted this to end so much sooner… I’m so sorry…

Ruby: You… You killed my sister…

Hanayo: You killed Honoka…

Kotori: I know… I know I did… I’m sorry! I didn’t want this to happen this way! I had no choice!

Mari: Explain yourself Kotori! Explain why you made us kill each other! Why you killed Honoka! Why you killed Dia…

Kotori: I didn’t want to kill Dia… Monokuma made me… If I didn’t kill Dia then he would kill us all…

Chika: What about the killing! Why did you make us do all this!

Kotori: That’s… A long story…

Hanayo: Tell us… We have time…

Kotori: Of course… It all started when we got news that the heads of the Future Foundation were forced into a killing game. We assumed the worst and decided to commit a group suicide.

Ruby: I don’t believe that! My sister wouldn’t agree to that!

Kotori: You wouldn’t remember I guess, but she was actually the one to suggest it. Chika and Honoka were the ones that refused the strongest, but even they agreed eventually.

Chika: W-We did..?

Kotori: Yes, and as we were about to, Monokuma made his appearance. Monokuma developed an ability that was similar to the Neo World Program and was able to erase our memories. You all forgot everything, Hope’s Peak, the Tragedy, Ultimate Despair, all of it. I was the only one he left. He said he needed someone to orchestrate the killing festival. He also let me choose one person to return the memories of to have act as the traitor.  I chose Dia because she was the one to suggest death. She would see her idea come true in a way…

Mari: That’s sick! What the hell is wrong with you!

Chika: And hold on, how are you here? Your remains were in that morgue place mixed with Maru and Eli!

Mari: So that’s what you two found…

Kotori: There were only two people worth of remains in there, my death was faked. The birds weren’t actually pecking at me, they just flocked around me to block me from sight. Then I was lowered, got off the pole, and left the rope at the bottom to make it seem like I was eaten inside of it. The pole went back up and the birds flew away. That’s what you saw.

Chika: Th-That’s…

Kotori: The reason I killed Honoka… It’s because I didn’t want her to suffer the loss of us all… I wanted her to be able to die without any sadness in her heart. That’s why I made her the first victim…

Hanayo: Kotori, in order for you to be the mastermind, that means you don’t want this killing to be happening, right?

Kotori: Yes, after Eli’s execution I found out about the final killing game ending. I tried to stop the killing game there, tried to limit the death, but Monokuma was operating on his own. I lost control completely after Nozomi’s execution. That’s why it took longer for the motive to be given that time.

Kyoko: So what you’re saying is that you were trying to give a mercy kill. You all would slowly die if the Future Foundation fell since we wouldn’t be able to get you supplies. The plan was already for everyone to die, and Monokuma’s arrival just made it all more painful.

Kotori: Exactly! Monokuma said that if I didn’t agree to the killing game that he would torture us rather than kill us. So even if the deaths would be more painful, this was the best choice in my mind…

Kyosuke: Well, nobody can fault you for your choice in that position. You couldn’t know what was going on with us.

Kotori: M-Munakata? What happened to you during the killing game? You’re like a whole new person.

Kyosuke: If you don’t know it’s for the better. It’s too painful to tell.

Makoto: Chisa died, he had a bisexual awakening, and then Juzo died.

Kyosuke: Alright, thanks for the subtlety.

Monokuma: Hmm… You all seem too buddy buddy! I don’t like this trial, it’s boring. It’s not even a trial!

Kyoko: That’s because there’s nothing to discuss, we know the mastermind and their motives. We know that your AI is the true reason behind this killing game. There aren’t any mysteries.

Monokuma: But that’s no fun! It’s too simple of an ending! There’s nothing morally gray about it!

Kyosuke: Well, according to my men, code name gray just finished his job, so your weapons won’t function any more. It looks like we’re free to destroy you and leave now.

 

Munakata began to move towards Monokuma and revealed a sword.

I heard a click behind my head and my heart stopped. Nothing came out. I wasn’t dead. He was right. The weapons didn’t work.

 

Kyosuke: And so it ends, the final Monokuma Unit is destroyed.

 

With those words, he raised his sword and sliced through the side of the bear in a line that also cut through the head. Monokuma’s red eye lost its colour. It was destroyed.

 

Kyosuke: So then. That leaves us with one matter. The politics of this situation.

Chika: What do you mean?

Kyoko: We already had to remove the 77th class of Hope’s Peak from society due to their affiliation with the Ultimate Despair, for us to enable Minami back into society wouldn’t look good.

Mari: Well that’s a simple fix, we never tell anyone that she was the mastermind. You said yourself that nobody saw into this killing festival, so they don’t know that she should be dead.

Makoto: I agree, The best choice would be to cover it up. If we don’t have to ruin her life then we shouldn’t! Though, in the end the choice falls to her.

Kotori: Of course I want to stay with everyone! Hanayo, Chika, Ruby, Mari, can you forgive me for this? You’ve heard my reasoning, will you still take me back?

Chika: Of course! You didn’t have a choice!

Hanayo: You only killed Honoka to protect her. And you tried to stop anyone from having to die after Eli… I would feel bad for hating you, it’s not your fault, it’s Monokuma’s.

Mari: I think the biggest problem will be Ruby, you killed her sister after all…

Kotori: Ruby… Do you forgive me for what I did… I know it’s a hard thing to ask, but I wouldn’t have killed her if I had the choice. Even if I didn’t kill her, Monokuma would have.

Ruby: Of course… Why would you even ask… I’m just… too overwhelmed… I don’t know what I’ll do without her…

Makoto: And there you have it, we’ll make sure that until you’re able to put yourselves back together and enter into the real world again we’ll put you into the best accommodations we can, not a hotel though, I think you wouldn’t appreciate that much.

Mari: You think right, I say a beachside cottage, anyone else?

 

Nobody objected to Mari’s idea. It was easy to see why she wanted it so it would be heartless to deny her that.

 

Kyosuke, all right then, code name gray and code name y should be here soon. They’ll be the ones to get us out of here and back to the surface.

Hanayo: The surface?

Kyosuke: Of course, the hotel is multi layered. There are a bunch of replicas stacked on top of each other. That way attackers would have a hard time finding you before they would be stopped.

Chika: So that’s why there were different cameras for the same spot, and that huge scaffolding area!

Hanayo: But wait, what about that Morgue area?

Kotori: That was originally a cold storage for meat. It was where it was so that we could always go to the same place for meat instead of having a bunch of different ones.

Mari: Well then, ok, that’s still weird, but at least it has an explanation even if it makes no sense.

Suddenly, two women came down from the hole that was still in the ceiling on rope ladders. One with long purple hair and the other with brown, slightly greenish hair, with the same spikey thing as the brown haired man.

 

Purple haired woman: Yo, Stiff, don’t add a letter to our code name just to make a cool dramatic moment, it’s pronounced gay, g-a-y, you got it?

Kyosuke: I was hoping Fukawa would be back by now…

Purple haired woman: Nope! It’s just everyone’s favourite serial killer Genocider Syo! :)

Brown haired woman: How did you say that with your mouth? Why did you say it instead of just actually smiling?

Genocider Syo: Hey, don’t judge me, you made me feel bad, I’m going away now.

 

The purple haired girl sneezed and so many questions were running through my mind and at this point I was too tired to ask. Mari wasn’t though.

  
Mari: Hold on now! Serial killer? Gay? Who are these people? Which one’s code name gray and which one’s code name y?

Kyosuke: All three of the ones that just came down are combined code name gray. Genocider Syo is the alternate personality of Touko Fukawa. She’s a serial killer but she’s been trained not to kill people she isn’t told to. The other girl is Komaru Naegi, she’s Naegi’s sister.

Komaru: Y-Yeah, Touko lost a game of rock-paper-scissors with Syo so she got to chose the code name, but the rest of us agreed to make it gray instead. Don’t ask how rock-paper-scissors with your alternate personality works, none of us know. Code name y is Byakuya Togami. He’s rich and a prick so we made him stay up top. He just lowered the ladders for us.

Mari: So the gay thing, is it?

Makoto: Y-Yeah, there’s a surprisingly high number of gays in the Future Foundation. Though we’re disbanded so I guess I should say there was a surprisingly high number.

Hanayo: So what now? If despair has been eliminated what does that mean?

Kyoko: It means Hope’s Peak is being rebuilt with Makoto as the new headmaster.

Makoto: You’re all too old to be students now, but we can give you honorary titles if you want.

Ruby: T-Too old? Wait, how much did we forget?

Kyosuke: Well, about now you and Koizumi should be about 19, the other 2 of you that lost your memories should be able to add to find your ages.

Chika: I’m 20?!

Kotori: Yeah, that’s right.

Chika: I can drink legally… I don’t know what to do with this knowledge…

Mari: So hey, what would our titles be? You’re the headmaster, so you’re the one that would assign them, right?

Makoto: That’s right, it’s not official yet and may be changed, but what I’m thinking right now would be for Mari, Ultimate CEO, for Ruby, Ultimate Little Sister, for Hanayo, Ultimate Idol Enthusiast, for Kotori, Ultimate Seamstress, and for Chika, Ultimate Guiding Spirit.

Kyoko: Well, we can get to that when we get to the school. Until then you five should just relax. You’ve been through a lot.

Komaru: That’s right, come on, Makoto, Munakata, you first.

Makoto: Right, right, we’re going.

Kyoko: Now then, you all get up there and we’ll follow. Touko, you ok bringing up the back?

Touko: Y-Yeah, yeah, as long as it keeps me away from Byakuya longer, that was a regretful stage of my life…

 

The five of us left. We didn’t know what we would do, where we would go, all we knew was that we were safe.

In the end, Maki was right.

Five of us were able to leave here alive, and it took 10 days for it to happen.

 

**_STORY END_ **

 

**_Epilogue_ **

 

“Hey, Kotori, I have a question.”

“What is it Chika?”

“Umi knew you were the mastermind, right? How did that happen?”

“Oh, that, I knew I had lost control, and I didn’t want her to die like Honoka. That’s why I told her everything. I talked to her face to face in her room. I explained everything that had happened. Everything that would happen. I told her everything because I wanted her to live. It’s sad she died, but you were able to push through You and Riko’s deaths, so I had to push through Umi’s death too.”

“Oh, I see… Well hey, we shouldn’t wallow too much, right? What kind of ice cream do you want?”

“Do we have any cheesecake?”

“Yeah, we do! Here you go.”

“Thanks. And thank you for forgiving me. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to come to terms with the fact that I killed two people, but having you and the other three here for me is helping a lot.”

“Hey, Kotori, it’s not your fault, you didn’t kill them, you were just a weapon used by Monokuma. Monokuma is the one to blame. Think of it this way, if someone put your sleeping body on a button and moving off of that button caused the floor someone was on to give out and fall into a spike pit, then when you woke up and moved off it you wouldn’t be the one that killed that person, it would be the person that put you there!”

“I-I see… Thank you Chika. The title that Makoto gave you really is accurate, isn’t it?”

“Ehehe, you think so?”

“Yeah, and it’s nice to hear you laugh. I still haven’t been able to laugh since all this happened, but if you’re able to, then I know that I’ll be able to one day as well. Thank you.”

 

There was a lot that happened since the Future Foundation members rescued us. I finally had a chance to finish reading Maki’s dying message.

The last words on the page she left me.

The words that lived on in my mind for years.

_Anyways, there’s one last thing I need to tell you about, it’s that despite all of this, no matter how awful and wrong hope may seem, you must let it live on in your heart. Hope can’t control you, but abandoning it would be a life of pain and suffering without purpose. Don’t Lose Hope Chika, Live For The Sake Of Life._

**Author's Note:**

> And that concludes this story! I hope you enjoyed it! what I do next is a toss up between two things, it'll likely be the latter because it doesn't have as much prep needed but I'll be doing either a higher quality OC Killing Game or a game show type thing without death using the characters from BanG Dream! Girls' Band Party! I'm mostly going to take the time to simply relax though, so don't expect either any time too soon.


End file.
